Postal rates may be helpful in
dating old covers (envelopes and folded letter
sheets) however we caution you to carefully examine the rates and time periods
involved. There may be many variables in determining the correct answer to your
question. Not all the answers are on this page. There are many postal historians
available who might help you.
United States postage rates varied according to the distance a letter was to be
carried from the post office where it entered the mail to its final destination. These
zone rates were stable from 1816 (with a minor change in the 151 to 400
mile rate in 1825) to 1845.
United States zone rates were modified in 1845 to reduce the number of zones to only
two. Rates were adopted in 1847 for mail to or from the Pacific Coast and in 1848 for
mail sent from one place in the west to another place in the west.
There were double and triple rates as the
letters size increased. There were ship fees which were also added (i.e. mail to
Hawaii). The ship fee, including the ship rate on letters for delivery at the port of entry,
were on a per letter basis, rather than weight.
The United States issued its first postage stamps in 1847. Before that time, all
domestic mail was stampless with the rates, dates and origin of the letter
being either written by hand (manuscript) or sometimes in combination with a
handstamp device.

Goverment officials and local postmasters had the franking
privilege so you might see a manuscript marking like this: Free, John
Calhoun, Sec of War. This franking privilege was applied to mail being directed
to them as well as mail sent from them.
Manuscript postmarks were used after the United States Post
Office issued postage stamps, the stamps themselves were first sent to some few post
offices in major cities. The 1847 issue included both a 5 cent and a 10 cent
stamp (below).

Incidentally, worlds first postage stamp was the British 1840
Penny Black (below).

Penny Black

Colonial To 1782
The British colonies in North America had no organized mail service in the early
1600s. Postal service in the American colonies began in the private inns and
coffee houses of seventeenth-century seaports. Inter-colonial mail was rare, and
privately carried. Native Americans, slaves, and servants were all impressed to deliver
or forward the mails. Commerical exchange within and between colonies was most
often by boat along the eastern seaboard.
While colonial postal system was ever so slow in developing, the roots were deep
in British law. As Britain developed its own postal system, it eventually applied it
system to the colonies.

Three British Acts that ultimately had effect on the
colonies:

A Proclamation for the Setling of the Lre [Letter] Office of England and Scotland.
Proclamation of July 31, 1635, Patent Roll (Chancery) 11 Car 1.

These Acts establish the government as the only lawful provider of the
countrys postal system: in other words, a monopoly. The British monetary
system of pounds, shillings and pence were the norm in the colonies, literally
coin of the realm, but difficult to come by, so this pecuniary problem had
a tendency to stifle the volume of letters mailed. The British appointed postmasters,
established rates, and introduced postmarks. It was impossible to pay a British
postmaster with
Spanish pieces of eight.
In 1639, the Massachusetts General Court established the first postal system in the
colonies. Richard Fairbanks tavern in Boston was authorized as the official
repository of mail, both local and from abroad.
In 1673, Governor Francis Lovelace of New York established a monthly delivery
system between New York City and Boston. While short lived, the post riders
trail became known as the Old Boston Post Road.
William Penn established Pennsylvanias first post office in 1683.
In 1691, Andrew Hamilton was appointed postmaster general for North America.
In April 26, a 1699 letter from Andrew Hamilton to Right Honourable the Lords
Com. of his Majestys Treasury notes inland postage rates.

Where the distance from New Yorke to Boston is within 80 miles the
postage

6d.

Where the distance exceed 80 miles and within 150

9d.

Postage to and from Boston to New Yorke being 300m.

12d.

To
and from Boston to Jersey 370 miles

18d.

To
and from Boston and Philadelphia 390 miles

20d.

To
and from Boston to Annapolis in Maryland 550m.

36d.

To
and from Boston and James Towne in Virginia 680m.

42d.

To
and from New Yorke to Annapolis 250 miles

24d.

To
and from New Yorke to James Towne 380 miles and many broad and dangerous Bays and Rivers to be Ferryed over.

The first Parliamentary Act for the establishment of a postoffice in the English
American Colonies was passed in April, 1692, when a royal patent was granted to
Thomas Neale for the purpose. He was to transport letters and packets at such
rates as the planters should agree to give.
Rates of postage were accordingly fixed and authorized, and measures were
taken to establish a postoffice in each town in Virginia, when Hale began his
operations. Massachusetts and other Colonies soon passed postal laws, and a very
imperfect postoffice system was established. Neales patent expired in 1710,
when Parliament extended the English postal system to the Colonies. The chief office
was established in New York, where letters were conveyed by regular
packets across the Atlantic.
A line of postoffices was soon after established on Neales old routes,
north to the present City of Portsmouth, N.H., and south to Philadelphia, and
irregularly extended a few years later, to Williamsburg, Va. The post left for the South
as often as letters enough were deposited to pay the expense. The rates were fixed,
and the post-rider had certain privileges to travel. Finally an irregular postal
communication was established with Charleston.
In 1753 Dr. Franklin was appointed Deputy Postmaster-General for the
Colonies. It was a lucrative office, and he held it until 1774, when he was dismissed
because of his active sympathy with the colonists in their quarrel with the Ministry.
For a while the colonial postal system was in confusion. William Goddard, a
printer, went from colony to colony, making efforts to establish a Constitutional Postoffice, in opposition to the Royal
Mail.
When, in 1775, almost every vestige of royal power was swept from the Colonies,
the Continental Congress appointed (July 26) Dr. Franklin
Postmaster-General. In the autumn of 1776, when Independence had been declared,
and Franklin sailed for France, the whole number of postoffices in the
United States was 75; length of post routes, 1,875 miles; revenue for about fifteen
months, $27,985; annual expenditures, $32,142.

Benjamin Franklin, who was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737,
served as a deputy postmaster general for all the colonies from 1753 to 1774. After the
start of the American Revolution, he was appointed postmaster general of the colonies. During his tenure in 1775-76 he laid the foundations for the United States postal
service. He greatly increased the number of post offices, started a packet mail service to
Britain, and introduced the use of stagecoaches to carry the mails.

1782 to 1816

On September 26, 1783, George Washington appointed Samuel Osgood of
Massachusetts as the first Postmaster General under the Constitution. At that time the
post office was a bureau of the Treasury Department. When Osgood took office there
were only 76 post offices and less than 2,400 miles (3,900 kilometers) of post
roads. Continental Congress, Ordinance of October 18,
1782.
(23 Journal of the Continental Congress)
During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress established its own postal
service and modeled postal monopoly provisions on Queen Annes Act of
1710. United States Congress
Act of February 20, 1792, ch 7, 1 Stat.. 232 (2d Congress, 1 Session)

During the War of 1812, in order to generate much needed revenue to pay for the
war,
the United States increased its postal rates. The regular postal rates were increased by
50% in February 1815, and were in effect until 31 March 1816 when the rates were
repealed.

31 March 1816 ~ 31 June
1845

Single letter rate. A single letter was defined by the number of letter sheets until 1827,
and thereafter by weight, one ounce being a single letter until 1845, and one half ounce
thereafter.
Not over 30 miles, per letter sheet.: 6 cents.
31 to 80 miles, per letter sheet.: 10 cents.
81 to 150 miles, per letter sheet.: 12½ cents.
151 to 400 miles, per letter sheet.: 18½ cents.
Over 400 miles, per letter sheet.: 25 cents. 1827
Not over 30 miles, per oz.: 6 cents.
31 to 80 miles, per oz.: 10 cents.
81 to 150 miles, per oz.: 12½ cents.
151 to 400 miles, per oz.: 18¾ cents, (effective 1
June 1825).
Over 400 miles, per oz.: 25 cents.